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Re:YouTube no longer suggests videos if your ‘watch history’... by kzhe on Monday August 21, 2023 @07:32AM (#37208088)
The ads are because you're some copy someone made of the FOSS app and added ads
Re:YouTube no longer suggests videos if your ‘watch history’... by xg15 on Monday August 21, 2023 @07:37AM (#37208123)
Yep. Switched to the F-Droid version and now the ads are gone.

Also explains why the ads in the copycat version didn't integrate at all with playback controls or the rest of the app: Someone probably took the original apk, slapped the ads on as a separate thread/process inside the apk and never modified the app's original source.